DILLON HOUSER WINS AGAIN AT TRI-COUNTY
By Gerald Harris
5/1: The Gripp Energy Limited Late Models made their second stop of the season at Tri-County Motor
Speedway in Hudson, NC on April 28, 2018. The new series seen lots of excitement and action at their
debut race down at Anderson Motor Speedway. As the teams unloaded and checked out the 4/10 th mile
speedway, they climbed into their machines for the first round of practice. Dillon Houser picked up
where he left off, topping the speed charts with Tanner Brookshire following right behind him.
They made adjustments and came back out on the track for the second round, where this time
Brookshire found his way to the top of the charts with James Dolan completing the second fastest lap.
They had one more chance to make adjustments and get it dialed in during the final round of practice.
Houser went on to capture the Renegade Race Fuels Pole Award with his teammate setting the second
fastest lap time. Houser rolled a four on the invert dice, which now set Virginia’s Kyle Barnes on the top
spot.
Barnes followed the City Chevrolet pace truck around the track during the warm up laps, and fired off
quickly when the green flew. Before the field could complete one lap, the caution came out as the #3 of
Everette McMahan came to a stop on the back stretch suffering from shifter issues. The field bunched
back up together once again for a complete do-over. Barnes led the field back to the green. With
Brookshire starting on the outside, Barnes quickly took over the top spot and jumped out to a five car
lead over Brookshire.
Brookshire followed Barnes tire tracks lap after lap, until a little over half way. Brookshire made the
move and passed Barnes for the lead on Lap 30. This opened up the doors for Houser to sneak up into
the battle bringing John Gallman with him. Barnes and Houser raced side by side, as they was coming off
turn two, the pair made contact and Barnes spun to bring out the second caution. Brookshire led the
field back to the green flag, with Houser starting behind him. Brookshire got a great restart and was able
to pull away, however it was only for a couple laps until the third caution came out as the #10 of Randy
Ollis went through the spin cycle in turn two. Brookshire once again led the field back to the green flag.
This is when the story took a turn for the worse, the multiple cautions on Lap 38. It began as Everette
spun in turn three, he gathered it back up and lined back up in the rear of the tail end of the field.
Houser had just taken over the top spot from Brookshire, right before the caution flew. Houser led the
field back to the green, and once again before the field could complete a lap another caution flew. This
time as #14 Davey Smart spun in turn three. Tempers were beginning to flare up, Houser once again led
the field to the green flag. The caution flew again as the #14 got together with the #55 of Brookshire,
causing Brookshire to make hard contact with the turn three wall. Houser once led the field back to the
green flag, and before they could complete a lap the caution flew again as Smart got into McMahan and
sent him into the wall. Houser paced the field back to the green flag one more time, and once again
before they would complete a lap the caution flew again. The #37 of Chris Phipps and Gallman got
together on the back stretch and the race director made the call to end the race due to time constraints
and the curfew the track had.
Dillon Houser went on to claim his second victory of the season in the Gripp Energy Limited Late Models,
this time at this home track. He was followed by Jesse Clark in second, Davey Smart in third, Randy Ollis
in fourth, and rounding out the top five was John Gallman.
Official Results
1. 11 Dillon Houser
2. 5 Jesse Clark
3. 14 Davey Smart
4. 10 Randy Ollis
5. 81 John Gallman
6. 37 Chris Phipps
7. 10T Marion Thomas
8. 3 Everette McMahan
9. 55 Tanner Brookshire
10. 4D James Dolan
11. 15 Kyle Barnes
12. 17 Baron Kuritzky
13. 65 John Mamph
5/1: The Gripp Energy Limited Late Models made their second stop of the season at Tri-County Motor
Speedway in Hudson, NC on April 28, 2018. The new series seen lots of excitement and action at their
debut race down at Anderson Motor Speedway. As the teams unloaded and checked out the 4/10 th mile
speedway, they climbed into their machines for the first round of practice. Dillon Houser picked up
where he left off, topping the speed charts with Tanner Brookshire following right behind him.
They made adjustments and came back out on the track for the second round, where this time
Brookshire found his way to the top of the charts with James Dolan completing the second fastest lap.
They had one more chance to make adjustments and get it dialed in during the final round of practice.
Houser went on to capture the Renegade Race Fuels Pole Award with his teammate setting the second
fastest lap time. Houser rolled a four on the invert dice, which now set Virginia’s Kyle Barnes on the top
spot.
Barnes followed the City Chevrolet pace truck around the track during the warm up laps, and fired off
quickly when the green flew. Before the field could complete one lap, the caution came out as the #3 of
Everette McMahan came to a stop on the back stretch suffering from shifter issues. The field bunched
back up together once again for a complete do-over. Barnes led the field back to the green. With
Brookshire starting on the outside, Barnes quickly took over the top spot and jumped out to a five car
lead over Brookshire.
Brookshire followed Barnes tire tracks lap after lap, until a little over half way. Brookshire made the
move and passed Barnes for the lead on Lap 30. This opened up the doors for Houser to sneak up into
the battle bringing John Gallman with him. Barnes and Houser raced side by side, as they was coming off
turn two, the pair made contact and Barnes spun to bring out the second caution. Brookshire led the
field back to the green flag, with Houser starting behind him. Brookshire got a great restart and was able
to pull away, however it was only for a couple laps until the third caution came out as the #10 of Randy
Ollis went through the spin cycle in turn two. Brookshire once again led the field back to the green flag.
This is when the story took a turn for the worse, the multiple cautions on Lap 38. It began as Everette
spun in turn three, he gathered it back up and lined back up in the rear of the tail end of the field.
Houser had just taken over the top spot from Brookshire, right before the caution flew. Houser led the
field back to the green, and once again before the field could complete a lap another caution flew. This
time as #14 Davey Smart spun in turn three. Tempers were beginning to flare up, Houser once again led
the field to the green flag. The caution flew again as the #14 got together with the #55 of Brookshire,
causing Brookshire to make hard contact with the turn three wall. Houser once led the field back to the
green flag, and before they could complete a lap the caution flew again as Smart got into McMahan and
sent him into the wall. Houser paced the field back to the green flag one more time, and once again
before they would complete a lap the caution flew again. The #37 of Chris Phipps and Gallman got
together on the back stretch and the race director made the call to end the race due to time constraints
and the curfew the track had.
Dillon Houser went on to claim his second victory of the season in the Gripp Energy Limited Late Models,
this time at this home track. He was followed by Jesse Clark in second, Davey Smart in third, Randy Ollis
in fourth, and rounding out the top five was John Gallman.
Official Results
1. 11 Dillon Houser
2. 5 Jesse Clark
3. 14 Davey Smart
4. 10 Randy Ollis
5. 81 John Gallman
6. 37 Chris Phipps
7. 10T Marion Thomas
8. 3 Everette McMahan
9. 55 Tanner Brookshire
10. 4D James Dolan
11. 15 Kyle Barnes
12. 17 Baron Kuritzky
13. 65 John Mamph